Powder spray



April 1932- A. M. DE QUINCY ET AL 1,854,453

POWDER SPRAY Filed April 6, 1951 l 44 [/v I//\/ r025: Augusfa M deQu/ncy,

Frank Johnson,

Patented Apr. 19, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUGUSTA M. m: QUINCYAND FRANK JOHNSON, OF INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA.

rownm spam! Application filed April 6, 1931. Serial N0. 528,038.

Our invention relates to a powder spray, and relates particularly to apowder spray which may be used for toilet powders, such as talcumpowder.

6 It is an object of the invention to provide a powder spraying deviceconsisting of a container having a flexible side wall structure adaptedto be manually flexed, a discharge outlet, and means for holding a bodyof powder in proper position relative to the discharge outlet so thatthe quauntity of powder sprayed at each operation of the spray devicewill not be greatly changed as the quantity of powder within thecontainer diminishes.

A further object of the invention is to pro-- vide a simple automaticmeans for holding a I body of powder in proper position relative to thedischarge outlet, this automatic means consisting preferably of amovable wall adapted to move toward the discharge outlet as the powderis used.

A further object of the invention is to provide a movable wall forsupporting a body of powder in a container of the above character, thismovable wall being automatically actuated toward the discharge outlet byair pressure produced in the manipulation of the device.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple means forsealing the discharge outlet of the device.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be made evidentthroughout the following part of the specification.

Referring to the drawings, which is for illustrative purposes only,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the device isused.

Fig. 2 is a view of the front end of the powder spray device with theclosure means in a position to seal the spray outlet of the device.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the spray device, this sectionbeing taken on a diametral plane. f

Fig. 4 is a cross section on a plane represented by the line 44 of Fig.3.

Fig. 5 is a cross section on a plane represented by the line 55 of Fig.3, showing the manner of manipulating the valve in the rear or lower endof the powder spray.

Referring to the several views of the drawings, our device includes acontainer 11 adapted to be held by a hand 12 of the user. The container11 referably includes a cylindrical wall 13 of exible material which maybe integrally formed with a bottom wall 14 and a base 15. To the outerend of the wall 13 a front or top wall 16 is secured, this top on wallbeing part of a cap having a threaded portion 17 adapted to engage thethreads 18 formed at the front or upper end of the cylindrical wall 13.The cylindrical wall 13, the bottom wall 14 and the base 15 arereferably made of rubber, and vertical ri s 20 may be molded thereon forthe purpose of stiffening the wall and also for providing a simple meansof decoration. Extending inwardly from a shallow depression 21,preferably formed centrally in the outer wall 16, is an inwardlyextending tube 22 havin a discharge or spray passage 23 extending terethrough. This passage 23 flares-at its inner end so as to provide anannular lip 19 at the inner end of the tube 22, this sharp lip 19serving to reduce agitation of the air flow so that clouds of powder arenot readily formed by the spra Cooperating with the passage 23 is acheclZ valve 24 adapted to prevent an inward flow of air through thepassage 23, this check valve 24; being shown in the form of a conicalpart held inwardly against the mouth of the passage 23 by a resilientthread or string of rubbar 25, the inner end 26 of which is secured atthe inner end of the tube 22. The top wall 16 is also provided with aninlet opemng 27 having a check valve 28 for preventing an outward flowthrough the passage 27, this check valve being simply shown as a flapvalve, but it is evident that both the valve 28 i and the valve 24: maybe made in various other forms.

For supporting a body of powder in the upper portion of the container,we provide a movable wall member 31 which divides the interior of thecontainer into a front or upper chamber 32 and a rear or bottom chamber33. The wall member 31 has a cylindrical wall 33a of flexible material,such as rubber, this cylindrical wall 33a having an external diametersubstantially equal to the internal diameter of the wall 13 and beingslidable therein. The wall 33a frictionally engages the wall 13 in sucha manner that its sliding movement is thereby retarded. The cylindricalwall 33a also has suflicient Width or dimension in the direction of itsaxis to hold the member 31 in transverse position across the interior ofthe container, as shown in Fig. 3. The member 31 is also shown asincluding a thin transverse wall 34 which is preferably positionedintermediate the ends of the cylindrical wall 33a. As a means forsealing the lower chamber 33 from the upper chamber 32, we provide athin rubber inner tube 36 having an upper end wall 37 cemented to thetransverse wall 34 and having its lower end 38 cemented to the uppersurface of the bottom wall 14 adjacent the lower end of the cylindricalwall 13. In the practice of the invention the transverse wall 34 may beomitted, and the upper end wall 37 of the tube 36 may be employed as thetransverse wall of the movable wall member 31. The lower chamber 33 isprovided with an inlet check valve consisting of a valve part 40 adaptedto seat in the inner end of an axial opening 41 through the bottom wall14. Extending downwardly from the valve member 40 is a stem 42connecting to the center of a rubber diaphragm 43, the edges of whichdiaphragm are Joined to a downwardly projecting annular wall 44 havingair passages 45 therein.

As a simple closure means for the discharge opening 23 we provide arubber strip 46 having ends 47 cemented to the periphery of the covermember of which the wall 16 forms a part. The central portion of therubber strip 46 is preferably circularly enlarged, as indicated bydotted lines 48 of Fig. 2, and to the exterior surface of the circularlyenlarged central portion of the strip 46 we secure a disc 50, preferablyof rubber, having radially projecting leaves 51 which may be readilyengaged by the fingers of the user in a manner to pull the closure meansfrom the centralized position shown in Fig. 2 to the offset positionshown in Fig. 1. These leaves may be given the configuration of flowerpetals and may be formed from rubber colored differently from the discso as to give a pleasing decorative eifect.

The operation of the device is substantially as follows: A body 30 ofpowder is placed in the upper chamber 32, and the top wall 16 is securedin place. By gripping the container,

as shown in Fig. 1 and moving the fingers and thumb toward each other,the flexible wall 13 may be moved inwardly so as to reduce the volume ofthe interior of the container and force air outwardly through thepassage or opening 23- The air in the lower chamber 33 is compressed,and a pressure is exerted against the lower face of the movable wall 31,flexing the transverse wall 34 thereof upwardly and tending to move theentire member 31 in upward direction as the air content of the upperchamber 32 is discharged through the outlet passage 23, carryingtherewith particles of powder and ejecting such powder with the air inthe form of a spray 52, as shown in Fig. 1. On release of the pressureof the hand 12 so as to permit the cylindrical wall 13 to assume itsnormal position, air is drawn in through the inlet 27, and also a smallquantity of air is drawn in through the lower air passage 41, thusslightly increasing the volume of air contained within the tube 36 andthe lower chamber 33. The result of entrapping a body of air in thelower chamber 33 and the gradual increase of the volume of such body ofair as above indicated has the effect of moving the movable wall member31 upwardly so as to support the body 30 of powder in a positionproximate to the discharge outlet 23 as the volume of the body 30decreases due to the removal of powder therefrom in response to thespraying action of the powder spray device.

When it is desired to lower the movable wall member 31 within thecontainer, as for the purpose of placing more powder in the upperchamber 32, the check valve 40 is moved into open position, as shown inFig. 5, by placing a finger 55 against the flexible wall 43 and forcingupwardly thereagainst. This permits air to escape from the lower chamber33 as the movable wall member 31 is moved downwardly.

A feature of our invention is that it may be made entirely from rubberif desired and may be made in a form corresponding to that at thepresent time employed for toilet powder containers. The rubber materialsemployed may be given various color combinations so as to provide aproduct of an appearance pleasing to the character of trade for whidch adevice of this character would be use Although we have herein shown anddescribed our invention in simple and practical form, it is recognizedthat certain parts or elements thereof are representative of otherparts, elements, or mechanisms which may be used in substantially thesame manner to accomplish substantially the same results; therefore, itis to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thedetails disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of thefollowing claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a discharge outlet in the front end thereof andflexible side walls adapted to be manually flexed; and movable meanswithin said container for holding a body of powder in proximity to saiddischarge'outlet.

2. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer havingadischarge outlet in the front end thereof and flexibleside walls adapted to be manually flexed; a movable wall for holding abody of powder; and means for moving said wall toward said dischargeoutlet.

3. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a discharge outlet in the front end thereof andflexible side walls adapted to be manually flexed; a movable wall forholding a body of owder; and means for automatically movmg said walltoward said discharge outlet.

4. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a discharge outlet in the front end thereof andflexible side walls adapted to be manually flexed; and movable meanswithin said container for holding a body of powder in proximity to saiddischarge outlet, said movable means being adapted to move automaticallytoward said discharge outlet in response to actuation of said powderspray device.

5. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a discharge outlet in the front endthereof and flexibleside walls adapted to be manually flexed; a movable wall dividing saidcontainer into a front chamber and a rear chamber; and an inletcheck-valve means leading into said rear chamber.

6. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a discharge outlet in the front end thereof andflexible side walls adapted to be manually flexed; a movable walldividing said container into a front chamber and a rear chamber; aninlet check-valve means leading into said rear chamber; and an inletcheck-valve means leading into said front chamber.

7. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a discharge outlet in the front end thereof andflexible side walls adapted to be manually flexed; a movable walldividing said container into a front chamber and a rear chamber; aninlet check-valve means leading into said rear chamber; and means forreleasing said inlet check-valve means.

8. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a removable cover on the front end thereof and flexibleside walls'adapted to be manually flexed, there being a discharge outletin said cover having a check valve therein; and movable means Withinsaid container for holding a body of powder in proximity to saiddischarge outlet.

9. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a removable cover on the front end thereof and flexibleside walls adapted to be manually 10. A powder spray device of thecharacter I described, including: a container having a removable coveron the front end thereof and flexible side walls adapted to be manuallyflexed, there being a discharge outlet in said cover having a checkvalve therein; a movable wall dividing said container into a frontchamber and a rear chamber; and an inlet check-valve means leading intosaid rear chamber.

11. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a removable cover on the frontend thereof and flexibleside walls adapted to be manually flexed, there being a discharge outletin said cover having a check valve therein; a movable wall dividing saidcontainer into a front chamber and a rear chamber; an inlet checkvalvemeans leading into said rear chamber; and an inlet check-valve meansleading into said front chamber.

12. A powder spray device of the character descrlbed, including: acontainer having a removable cover on the front end thereof and flexibleside walls adapted to be manually flexed, there being a discharge outletin said cover having a check valve therein; a movable wall dividing saidcontainer into a front chamber and a rear chamber; an inlet check-valvemeans leading into said rear chamber; and means for releasing said inletcheck-valve means. 4

13. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a removable cover on the front end thereof and flexibleside walls adapted to be manually flexed, there being a. dischargeoutlet in said cover having a check valve therein; a movable walldividing said container into a front chamber and a rear chamber; aninlet check-valve means leading into said rear chamber; means forreleasing said inlet check-valve means; and sealing means for saiddischarge outlet comprising a member adapted to cooperate with the outerend of said discharge outlet, and an elastic member for holding saidmember in cooperation with said discharge outlet.

14. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a removable cover on the front end thereof and flexibleside walls adapted to be manually flexed, there being a discharge outletin said cover having a check valve therein; a movable wall dividing saidcontainer into a front chamber and a rear chamber; an inlet check-valvemeans leading into said rear chamber; means for releasing said inletcheck-valve means; and sealing means for said discharge outletcomprising a member adapted to cooperate with the outer end of saiddischarge outlet, and an elastic member for holding said member incooperation with said discharge outlet consisting of a resilient strapextending over said member and having its ends secured to said powderspray device.

15. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having an outlet passage and being adapted to hold powder,there being means for producing a discharge flow of air through saidoutlet passage; and sealing means for said outlet passage comprising asubstantially flat member adapted to fit against the outer end of saidoutlet passage, and an elastic member for holding said member incooperation with said outlet passage.

16. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having an outlet passage and being adapted to hold powder,there being means for producing a discharge flow of air through saidoutlet passage; and sealing means for said outlet passage comprising amember adapted to cooperate with the outer end of said outlet passage,and a resilient member for holding said member in cooperation with saidoutlet passage consisting of an elastic strap extending over said memberand having its ends secured to said powder spray device.

17. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having an outlet passage and being adapted to hold powder,there being means for producing a discharge flow of air through-saidoutlet passage; and sealing means for said outlet passage comprisingamember adapted to cooperate with the outer end of said outlet passage,and elastic straps extending outwardly from said member with their endsconnected to said container for holding said member in cooperation withsaid outlet passage.

18. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a discharge outlet in the front end thereof andflexible side walls adapted to be manually flexed; a movable wall forholding a body of powder, said movable wall being of yieldable materialand extending between said side walls within said container; and meansfor automatically moving said wall toward said discharge outlet.

19. A powder spray device of the character described, including: acontainer having a discharge outlet in the front end thereof andflexible side walls adapted to be manually flexed; a movable walldividing said contain er into a front chamber and a rear chamber; meansfor forming a seal between said movable wall and said container wherebyto seal said rear chamber from said front chamber;

and an inlet check-valve means leading into said rear chamber.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Los Angeles,California, this 1st day of April, 1931.

AUGUSTA M. on QUINCY. FRANK JOHNSON.

